In Carolina, Steve Wilks had the luxury of centering his 43 defense around the dynamic linebacker trio of Luke Kuechly, Thomas Davis and Shaq Thompson. In Wilks’ version of the 43, the linebackers have to play with speed, instinct and toughness in defending the run—-and they need to be fast and athletic enough to cover TEs and RBs, that is when they aren’t shutting down passing angles in zone coverage.
When Wilks decided he was going to switch the Cardinals’ base defense to the 43, Josh Bynes was re-signed to play the middle and to be sandwiched between former first round draftees Deone Bucannon and Haason Reddick.